CARSON - Long Beach police shot and killed a man in Carson early Wednesday morning in the climax of a running gunbattle.

Long Beach police in a marked patrol car were flagged down around 2:30 a.m. at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Long Beach Boulevard by a woman who said an armed man had made death threats against her and her family, Long Beach police Deputy Chief Robert Luna told reporters.

The man may have been the woman’s ex-boyfriend, he said.

A Los Angeles Police Department air unit was called in to assist and located a man believed to be the suspect at a gas station at the intersection of Del Amo Boulevard and Central Avenue in Carson, Luna said, adding that the suspect shot at the first Long Beach units to roll up, prompting an exchange of gunfire.

The suspect then fled through a nearby park, where more shots were fired, Luna said.

After running into a residential neighborhood, the man tried to break into a residence in the 20000 block of Hillford Avenue, where he was shot and killed by police, Luna said. No officers were hurt, Luna said.